Donor Visit to Nairobi - Day 2

Nairobi Day 2 wound up as another booming success, but again came with a host of frustrations. The frustrations stem primarily from the clash between my notion of punctuality and the Kenyan belief that “haraka haraka hayena baraka” (hurry hurry has no blessing). The morning we ran late again, and with my nagging finally got out on time. Zuhura was incredible on time today when we got her, and we made it to our destination right as the time the meeting was supposed to start. It ended up starting a little late, but we had no issues and no embarrassment.

We only had one meeting that day, which was with the Ford Foundation. Our relationship with them has been long and has always been good, so it was considered the least variable visit. They were right. We talked for a long time about projects, and finally, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation. Zuhura was better prepared, the meeting was much smoother, and we got even more good news. Ford Foundation’s new president has a special interest in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation. There is money available for that. The only hitch that might be difficult during the next round of funding is that of the American financial crisis which is pushing donors to the limits. Otherwise, Ford essentially wants to work with Ujamaa on how to improve the capacity of our staff and field workers in gathering information on their work and other activities related to M, E, & D. Next project cycle, the cash should flow as long as Ujamaa further conceptualizes the ideas of M, E, & D and is creative about where they want money and how they’ll use it. Wooooo!!!

The meeting was great but too long. We got out of the meeting at around 11:45, and the taxi to take me to my 12:30 bus was not around. It arrived late, got stuck in a jam, and had me stressing that I would have to hang around Nairobi another 10 hours waiting for the night buses. I wasn’t happy. I got to the bus depot on time, but then my colleague Phyllis, who had left the previous meeting to go to another, was late. I had her suitcase. I checked onto the bus. From there I went to great lengths to arrange a way she could meet with us. When we got to the other depot the bus stops at as it leaves Nairobi – there she was, happy and full of lunch. There I was stressed out about her missing the bus and hungry. I wasn’t happy. But, the ride home went well, and Phyllis I chatted a bunch. She said some nice things and gave me some really valuable advice on what I need to do before I leave to ensure the work I’ve done remains in place.

The trip to Nairobi was challenging to arrange, challenging to execute, but was worth every minute of frustration. Back at Ujamaa I can already feel the mood towards my project changing. I don’t have to work as hard to get things done and initiative is being taken by others, not only me. The trip that I wanted to use to get the donors on board actually brought the rest of the team on board.